mitt has beenmatchingobamasmallball for small ball. a hit-and-run critique here. this is important. a hit-and-run critique here, a slogan of the week there. that's what we've been saying. sam stein, there is no over arching message, no reagan message, no thatcher message, no george h.w. bush message in 1988. it's small ball. you have a libyan embassy blow up. you push him out the next morning and do something that even the romney campaign now understands was an absolute disaster. the president makes a faux pa about a bump in the road which was a stupid thing to say but they obsess over that. they say this is the message. this is how we're getting people back to work and change the economy clearly they're chasing after news headlines trying to win the day. >> that is a good way to put it. they're chasing. >> but it's weird because you can argue they're racing after the wrong news headlines. for instance we spent a couple days obsessing over a 1980s or 1990s redistribution quote from obama right? that was the news of the day for the romney campaign at that time. we gave more attentio

thattheobamaforeignpolicy is unraveling literally before our eyes on our tv screens. >> i think it interferes with the depiction that the administration is trying to convey, that al qaeda is on the wane, that everything's fine in the middle east. >> you think it's political? >> i think there are certain political overtones. how else could you trot out our u.n. ambassador to say it was spontaneous? >> maybe it was. >> five days later? that doesn't pass the smell test. it was ever ignorance or willful intelligence. >> whether you agree with him or not, senator mccain has the credibility, a war hero, with great experience in washington dealing with foreign policy, how do you think, though, paul ryan did with that? is that turning the page? did that ring true? does that ring as credible saying president obama's foreign policy is unraveling? did that work? >> there is a time and a place for everything. the day after an ambassador's death is not the time to rush out and hold a press conference in america. and by the way, i said the same thing. well, i thought democrats were shameless during the ira